Tommy, a great trumpet player in his youth, lost strength as he aged. Ultimately, a pianist would be able to absorb how these voicings were derived from the chord symbols, and then be able to create their own.Don Sickler recalls, "If you get physically weaker as you get older, trumpet playing can become a big problem since it's a very physical activity. The idea is that these voicings could be of varied uses to any level of pianist-a beginner pianist could play the music exactly as on the page and provide a supportive and harmonically hip sounding accompaniment to a soloist, while a more advanced pianist could use these same voicings with varied rhythms in the style of the recording. They are also annotated, showing the original chord symbol above the voicing, as well as any extensions below the voicing. The à la series (in the style of) provides a sample chorus of voicings drawn from the song's original recording, but notated as footballs: simple whole notes and half notes, or the basic harmonic rhythm of the chord progression of the solo section. This is a noteworthy musical decision, as this tricky section in the form needs to be clearly articulated. Although he has many hip voicings to work with, at the end of every B section he always plays the same voicings and rhythms. On Kenny Dorham's Sao Paulo, we can see great examples of classic Herbie Hancock voicings, including large two-handed chords with upper structure triads, and clever orchestrations of 13th chords and melodic minor scales. Walter was a close friend and playing companion of Kenny's and his piano arrangements show the intricate interaction between melody, harmony and rhythm that makes Dorham compositions so unique and compelling. To dig deeper into Kenny's music, get pianist Walter Davis Jr.'s book of piano arrangements for 30 Dorham titles K.D.: 30 Compositions by Kenny Dorham. Now that the music is available, maybe you'll be the next one to record it." Aside from that recording, and K.D.'s recording, I don't know of any others. For the first album, Freddie suggested Lotus Blossom, and for the second, Woody said he always wanted to do Sao Paulo, which quickly became a unanimous choice. (Kenny Dorham) was one of those, and they paid tribute to him on each of their albums together. They wanted to pay tribute to some of the important trumpet players they admired. "Una Mas" was recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs.ĭon Sickler: "I had the honor of working on two recording projects with two of my major trumpet heroes, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw. This is another masterpiece from the landmark session that also produced Una Mas and Straight Ahead. The composition ends with a Coda that utilizes the tremolo horn effect again. The Interlude can set up the next soloist or, after the last soloist, the out melody. The last measure of the B section returns to the 6/4 melody measure that either sets up another solo chorus or returns to the interlude. The solo form is the same, 12(A)-12(A)-9(B), except the first four measures of the A section and the B section are swing (instead of all Latin as in the melody. The Interlude is played again between soloists. The form of the melody is AAB, ending with a 6/4 measure that sets up an eleven-measure Interlude to introduce the first soloist. The horns enter softly for twelve measures of harmonies (with tremolos). The melody is set up beautifully by a 20-measure intro, starting with the rhythm section alone for eight measures. This composition has a four-page piano part, for example.Įveryone in the rhythm section has their own role you can hear it in our audio excerpt which starts at the melody. As in this composition, often the rhythm section players have very specific roles requiring individual parts. As with many of Kenny Dorham's compositions, a C treble clef lead sheet can only give you an approximation of the complex instrumental interactions Kenny wrote.
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